Chelsea FC – Jose Mourinho Slams Fixture Congestion

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Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho blasted the fixture schedule that sees them play against Fulham on Saturday after a grueling trip to Turkey to face Galatasaray on Wednesday.

Talking to the press ahead of the game against Fulham, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho echoed the sentiments of his vice-captain Frank Lampard and blasted the fixture schedule that sees them play on Saturday after a grueling trip to Turkey to face Galatasaray on Wednesday night.

When asked about his opinion on the comments made by Lampard, Mourinho said:

“It’s difficult. Playing on Sunday would be difficult. We play Saturday which is more difficult.

“We all want to play, but with conditions to recover and equal conditions for every team, with every team having the same privilege to be a little bit protected in relation to European matches.

“It makes the players’ job difficult, not my job. I can play a match every day, it’s not a problem for me or the people who make the fixtures. I don’t run, and they don’t run.

“It’s difficult for the players. When a player like Frank Lampard, who has a right to speak and has played an unbelievable number of seasons and matches in this club, and over 100 times for England, and is not the kind of player who is trying to give an opinion all the time. When a player like him expresses his feelings about that, this country should listen.

“What we don’t accept is why we’re playing Saturday and not Sunday. I have not slept a lot after Wednesday, but my legs are fresh. But for my players, it’s different.”

Mourinho insisted that he hasn’t spoken to his strikers after footage of him blasting them was leaked. He had lamented his lack of strikers in his squad and had suggested that Samuel Eto’o may be older than he is, but Mourinho said he hasn’t addressed the situation with them.

When asked if he had spoken to them, blunt Mourinho replied: “No.”

Quizzed if any had come to him to discuss it, he repeated: “No.”

Mourinho replied “no” again when questioned if he was surprised that none of his strike force had come to talk about it.